Milwaukee Avenue Corridor Committee

MILWAUKEE AVENUE CORRIDOR COMMITTEE AUGUST 29, 2013 MEETING SUMMARY CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Co‐Chair Jekot at 8:05 a.m. ATTENDANCE The following people were in attendance:  Danette Matyas, Village Trustee  John Jekot, Village Trustee  Bruce Sylvester, Senior Village Planner  Ross Klicker, Economic Development Coordinator  Moses Nazzal, Superintendent of Engineering  Bob Pilat, Admin. Asst. to Director of Public Services  Katie Schneider, Niles Chamber of Commerce  Barb Kruser, Niles Chamber of Commerce APP0VAL OF MEETING SUMMARY Moses Nazzal made a motion, seconded by Co‐Chair Jekot, to approve the August 15, 2013 meeting summary notes as presented. The motion passed unanimously. MILWAUKEE AVENUE BANNER PROGRAM Katie Schneider from the Chamber of Commerce introduced herself and discussed the Milwaukee Avenue banner program and the role the Chamber of Commerce. She explained how the Chamber of Commerce sold sponsorships for the banners, which helped them raise revenue. The timing of this effort went well with the other projects being completed on Milwaukee Avenue such as the streetscape project. It was explained how the businesses that sponsor a banner have a “tail” with their business name attached to the banner, however there have been issues with the tails. First and foremost they do not weather well. Katie presented samples to the committee of tails that were weathered and torn even though they had only been in place a few months. Secondly Katie stated attaching the tails to the banners was difficult, as the grommets do not always match up. Ross Klicker also mentioned the Village also has a “Best Place to Raise Kids” banner on Milwaukee Avenue as well. Page 1 of 3 Katie said the Chamber of Commerce would like to continue with the sponsorship program but have the business name printed on the banner itself instead of the additional tail. Ross mentioned there are funds in the budget to the purchase of holiday banners for display from the end of November through January, however they have not been ordered yet, but need to be ordered soon. There was general discussion regarding support of the banner program. Bob Pilat mentioned that while there has been talk about adding a third bracket to the pole and sleeve and the bottom of the tail to provide additional support, he was in favor of printing the name on the banner because adding an additional bracket would only increase the wind load on the streetlight poles. As they are now, the current banners are large and already do create a great deal of stress on the poles. On windy days the poles will sway and move on a substantial basis. There was much discussion regarding the pros and cons of having a holiday banner with no business advertising, versus a banner with business advertising. Katie Schneider stated the holiday time is the busiest shopping time of the year and we should be promoting businesses. A general consensus was reached that a banner with a business name should be in place, however Co‐Chair Jekot stated he would reach out to Trustee Hanusiak, the former chair of the Streetscape Committee, and Community Development Director Chuck Ostman, as they were in favor of no advertising in the past. To move the proposal forward, Katie agreed to prepare a draft proposal for the banner program detailing various topics discussed, including the change out schedule. MILWAUKEE AVENUE STREETSCAPE PHASE II & III UPDATE An update of the Phase II and III streetscape project was provided by Bob Pilat. He stated Meade Electric is completing the final work for the traffic signals at:  Milwaukee and Harlem  Milwaukee and Howard  Milwaukee and Oakton  Harlem and Howard Meade Electric anticipates to be completed by the end of September. When they are completed the Village’s contractor will be able to return and complete the final remaining streetscape items. Bob also mentioned Meade Electric will then be completing the intersection improvement at: Page 2 of 3   Oakton and Waukegan  Oakton and Harlem  Oakton and Caldwell  Milwaukee and Main While the current intersection improvement took a great deal of time to complete, Meade anticipates the next project to go much faster and will be completed by the end of November. MILWAUKEE AVENUE STREETSCAPE PHASE IV UPDATE It was mentioned the Village Board approved the updated plans so HR Green is finalizing the new plans to submit to IDOT in October. Ross reminded Bob Pilat he needed a copy of proposed layouts for Booby’s Restaurant to present to the owner. Bob will remind HR Green of this. NEW BUSINESS Under new business, an email form Mike Shields was discussed. Bruce Sylvester said he would respond to the email. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:15 a.m. Page 3 of 3